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Primary sourcePhotograph1851

Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison and George Thompson

Southworth & Hawes · 1851

A group daguerreotype of 1851 showing Garrison together with fellow abolitionists Wendell Phillips and George Thompson.

Garrison appears seated in the center of this group portrait with fellow abolitionists Phillips and Thompson.

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Daguerreotype in a gilt mat and case showing three seated men in dark formal suits and white shirts with bow ties, at a small draped table against a dark backdrop. The man on the left faces right, the man in the center faces forward wearing spectacles, and the man on the right faces left.
Southworth & Hawes, Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison and George Thompson, 1851. Boston Public Library.

About this source

What it is

This daguerreotype was made in 1851 by the Boston studio Southworth & Hawes. It shows three seated men: Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, and George Thompson. It is held by Boston Public Library, and a related image from the same sitting exists under a different shelf number.

Why it matters

The photograph records an alliance among three leading abolitionists: Phillips and Garrison from the American movement, and Thompson, a British abolitionist, showing the transatlantic reach of the antislavery cause. Group portraits like this helped build the public image of the movement's leadership.

Look closer

  • Why might these three men have chosen to be photographed together?
  • What does the presence of a British abolitionist suggest about the international nature of the antislavery movement?
  • What can the formal setting and poses tell us about how these men wanted to be seen?

This photograph is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of William Lloyd Garrison on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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